'I never carry cash' -- debit cards on the rise

Feature on the growing use of debit cards -- no matter how small the purchase.

Amy Lawson

When Erica Pelish-Sundstrom of Jewett City buys a coffee, she doesn’t waste her time counting dollars and cents — she takes out her plastic.

It’s not a credit card, but a debit card that takes money directly out of her bank account.

“If I go to a place that doesn’t accept (my debit card), I find another place to go,” she said. “Sometimes, I admit, I feel silly using it for a $2 coffee, but I never carry cash.”

And she’s not alone. A survey done in May by MasterCard shows debit card usage by women has more than doubled in the past four years. Nowadays, 43 percent of women use a debit card rather than cash when making even a small purchase, compared with 20 percent in 2003.

The prevalence of debit use is even pushing some businesses to invest in the equipment and per-purchase fee to keep customers coming back.

“I’ve taken credit cards since I opened, and I see it as an absolute necessity,” said Linda Becker, owner of Mrs. B’s Convenient Cuisine in Yantic.

Becker said the majority of customers who pay with debit or credit cards (both are run on the same machine) in her store use them for larger charges.

“It’s more costly for the business, because you’re paying a fee, but that’s just how things operate nowadays,” she said.

Shawn Magliano, owner of City Perk in downtown Norwich, said he estimates the number of credit and debit transactions he processes at his shop at only about 10 per day. Though not having the ability to take the cards wouldn’t make a huge difference in his bottom line, Magliano said he’ll keep the machine to keep his customers.

“In this day and age, when you’re a small business, every little bit helps,” he said.

Kip Gienau, owner of Advertising Works in Uncasville, said consumers have grown so accustomed to paying for things with their debit cards, they will take their business elsewhere if a merchant without a card processing machine cannot handle their purchase.

“I don’t care what type of business you visit today, the majority of the customers use plastic instead of cash. Fast-food restaurants that started taking plastic have increased sales of their products by giving the consumer an option,” Gienau said. “The savvy consumer expects payment options and if a business doesn’t accommodate those expectations, then the consumer will find someone who will.”

Dawn Weber of Danielson said being able to track purchases online rather than writing them down in a checkbook also attracts some consumers. She uses her card for coffee, ice cream and everything in between. Weber hopes the convenience will someday become available for her children to use in school.

“If I went somewhere where they are not accepted, I wouldn’t do business there,” she said. “I wish that the schools would implement some sort of rechargeable debit card system for school lunches. It would be so much easier than sending the children with cash or a check every day.”

For Pelish-Sundstrom, the attraction of the debit card is that it requires forethought for purchases. Instead of simply handing over pocket cash, she has to remember if there is enough money in her account for whatever she’s buying.

“Cash spends easily. When I use the debit, I have to think — is it worth it and is there money in the account to cover it? I think harder before I spend,” she said.